Do you worry if your social media profiles impact your college admissions? You're not the only one.
It's true that most college applications, including the Common App, require the student to answer whether they have been found responsible for academic or behavioral misconduct in high school and whether they have been found guilty of a crime.
In this recent Forbes article, they discuss the potential impact social media may have on your admissions:
"A recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep suggests this fear is not unfounded – 35% of admissions officers surveyed had visited an applicant’s social media page, and 16% had found something online that negatively influenced an applicant’s chances."
The secret is that the student's counselor is also required to answer these same questions about the student. Admissions officers are trained to make sure that the student's answers and the counselor's answers match up. If not, the college will follow up.
"Being honest on your college application from the start is the way to go" TWEET THIS
Once in awhile, the student doesn't mention the misconduct or conviction, and neither does the counselor. But somehow the colleges the student applies to always seem to find out. This usually happens because the college receives an anonymous letter from someone in the student's community which leads to an investigation to see if the accusations are true.
There may be a small handful of colleges that won't overlook the misconduct. Most colleges will give the student a second chance, though. Being honest from the start is the way to go.
